Time to choose: Jeffersons Declaration vs. Marxs Manifesto

We have a choice between two conflicting worldviews: one of freedom and dignity, the other of a regimented society based on submission to the ideology of a ruling elite.One liberates, the other enslaves.One points the way toward a new dawn for humanity, the other toward the dark night of collectivism.These visions were set forth in two of the most important documents in history, written just 72 years apart: The Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1776, and “The Communist Manifesto,” published in 1848.The struggle, which is going on all around us, is a manifestation of these two mutually exclusive worldviews.The Declaration reflected the thinking of the most brilliant minds ever assembled in one place: merchants, planters, lawyers, inventors, a physician and a member of the clergy, most distinguished in their individual fields.They did not need a cause, but they believed in one.“The Communist Manifesto” was written largely by Karl Marx — a miserable failure, an angry, bitter crank who sought greatness by attacking a system he did not understand.He called for the abolition of capitalism without ever setting foot on a factory floor.He was also a racist and an antisemite.The Declaration of Independence is only 1,320 words, and most of that is taken up with a list of the colonists’ grievances against King George III.The preamble, which contains the essence of the document’s political philosophy, is 133 words.“The Communist Manifesto” is roughly 12,000 words.Later, Marx and his collaborator, Friedrich Engels, expanded on it in “Das Kapital,” a stultifying three-volume work of 2,500 pages.Like “Mein Kampf,” it is best used as a doorstop.Compare the records of these two worldviews.The vision of the Founders took America from a colonial backwater to the nation that dominated the 20th century.From our factories and workshops has flowed an endless stream of inventions that have shaped the modern world and eased the burden of humanity, including ...